Issue 12, 2023, Issue in Progress

Interfacial S–O bonds specifically boost Z-scheme charge separation in a CuInS2/In2O3 heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Reducing the recombination rate of photoexcited electron–hole pairs is always a great challenging work for the photocatalytic technique. In response to this issue, herein, a novel Z-scheme CuInS2/In2O3 with interfacial S–O linkages was synthesized by a hydrothermal and subsequently annealing method. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) measurements confirmed the formation of covalent S–O bonds between CuInS2 and In2O3. The quenching and electron spin resonance (ESR) tests revealed the Z-scheme transfer route of photogenerated carriers over the CuInS2/In2O3 heterojunctions, which was further verified theoretically via density functional theory (DFT) calculations. As expected, the CuInS2/In2O3 heterojunctions showed significantly boosted photocatalytic activities for lomefloxacin degradation and Cr(VI) reduction under visible light illumination compared with the bare materials. Accordingly, a synergistic photocatalytic mechanism of Z-scheme heterostructures and interfacial S–O bonding was proposed, in which the S–O linkage could act as a specific bridge to modify the Z-scheme manner for accelerating the interfacial charge transmission. Furthermore, the CuInS2/In2O3 heterojunction also exhibited excellent performance perceived in the stability and reusability tests. This work provides a new approach for designing and fabricating novel Z-scheme heterostructures with a high-efficiency charge transfer route.

Graphical abstract: Interfacial S–O bonds specifically boost Z-scheme charge separation in a CuInS2/In2O3 heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic activity

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Jan 2023
Accepted
06 Mar 2023
First published
13 Mar 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2023,13, 8227-8237

Interfacial S–O bonds specifically boost Z-scheme charge separation in a CuInS2/In2O3 heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic activity

X. Fu, J. Tao, Z. Zhao, S. Sun, L. Zhao, Z. He, Y. Gao and Y. Xia, RSC Adv., 2023, 13, 8227 DOI: 10.1039/D3RA00043E

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